The Japanese Communist Party has called on its branches as well as district and prefectural bodies to use the JCP's emergency proposal to develop a major grassroots movement calling for the rehabilitation of the nation's ailing economy.

JCP Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi announced this major plan at a news conference in the Diet on April 2.

Earlier in the day, the Bank of Japan published a quarterly survey on business sentiments which showed a sharp downturn in March for the first time in nine quarters. The negative trend was in all sizes of business and in every industry. In large corporations, the figure moved to the minus after an interval of one year.

Commenting on the BOJ report, Ichida said, "These figures show more clearly than ever the urgent need to rehabilitate the real economy as the JCP has called for in its 'emergency economic proposal.'"

The JCP has visited more than 100 organizations and explained the JCP proposal in quest for broader cooperation in the effort to overcome the economic crisis.

Ichida said that the JCP through these visits has found a common understanding about the urgent need to strengthen people's purchasing power. This, he sressed, is essential for both the improvement of people's livelihoods and rehabilitation of the Japanese economy.

The JCP has produced one million copies of the JCP Emergency Proposal for the Japanese Economy" to be read and used extensively at the grassroots level in discussions, including symposiums. (end)